A Beginner’s Guide to Vocabulary Instruction: Using Latin Word Chunks

When I first started teaching, we used ditto machines and overhead projectors.

Take these dinosaur “tech tools” and pair them with 1) a random list of high-frequency SAT words and 2) a cloudy understanding of the Frayer model and you get the haphazard vocabulary instruction I used for years. Show kids a complex word each day. Ask them to draw 100+ corresponding graphic organizers. Expect them to nail the SAT test.

Just like all those dried up Vis–à–Vis markers, this method didn’t work.

What Does Research Say?

Instead of teaching a random “hard” word each day, shift your time to teaching students the most frequent Greek and Latin parts of words (i.e. prefixes, roots, and suffixes).

The experts have been talking about teaching word-level comprehension this way for years:

So we’re not talking about some massive endeavor like teaching our students to actually speak Greek or subscribing to some reading program software.

In Deeper Reading, Kelly Gallagher says that type of vocabulary instruction “takes away from reading time, which is where the most effective vocabulary acquisition occurs. But students can benefit from knowing —that is, memorizing—some of the ‘staples'” (2004, p. 72).

What Does It Look Like in Practice?

To start, I highly recommend getting a copy of Gallagher’s Deeper Reading. He shares his “30-15-10 List” (i.e. the 55 most common chunks) and how he rolls them out with his students. The reading comprehension growth my students have had is thanks in large part to his work.

Here, I’ve taken his idea and given a possibly more detailed rundown of how it looks in my room, including the specific documents my students use:

At the Start of the Year

Students complete a Latin Word Chunks pre-test. This is very quick, informal, and low-stakes. They use the correct answers from this pre-test to create a personal set of Latin Word Chunk flashcards. If you’ve read about my passion for content retention, you know how my students and I nerd-out on flashcards. We use these nearly every week in class, and students are expected to practice self-quizzing with them at home during the week.

Students are expected to study their flashcards at home; however, we often use them in class to play a version of Memory to help reinforce strategies of self-quizzing. Otherwise, students use hand-held devices to play the various games on Quizlet. [Here’s a link to my Latin Word Chunks folder on Quizlet. It also includes flashcards sets for all of the English 10 Literary, Poetic, and Rhetorical Devices.]

Week-by-Week Quizzes

As I mentioned, I introduce five terms at a time with a quiz at the end of each week. The timeline is always slightly different depending on the needs of my students, but it might look something like what I share below. But first, please note, we typically spend about 30 minutes in total each week on vocabulary instruction (including the quizzes). This process looks complex but is quite fast when you and your students get into a rhythm.

Week 1: On Monday, introduce terms #1-5. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-5. On Friday, take a #1-5 quiz.

The first assessment exposure to terms #1-5 means they are set on “Level Easy.” Students know this means there will be a word bank and the terms are listed on the quiz in the same order as our Student Study Pack.

Week 2: On Monday, introduce terms #6-10. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-10. On Friday, take a #1-10 quiz.

The second assessment exposure to terms #1-5 means they increase in difficult to “Level Medium.” This means there isn’t a word bank for those terms, yet they stay in list order.

Since this is the first assessment exposure for terms #6-10, those items are on “Level Easy.”

Week 3: On Monday, introduce terms #11-15. On Wednesday, do a mini-review of #1-15. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.

This is now the third exposure to terms #1-5, so they shift to “Level Hard” and are shuffled in order without a word bank.

Terms #6-10 move to “Level Medium” with their second assessment exposure.

And the new terms #11-15 start at “Level Easy.”

Week 4: On Monday, no new terms are introduced, and we might do a mini-review of #1-15. On Wednesday, do another mini-review. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.

Terms #1-10 are both on “Level Hard,” and #11-15 moves to “Level Medium.”

Week 5: Same Monday and Wednesday with quick review. On Friday, take a #1-15 quiz.

All terms move to “Level Hard” before introducing a new set of five terms the following week and folding those into our memorization mastery.

I describe this strategic approach to knowledge-building for my students simply as “snowballing” [See image above]. We begin with a tiny cluster of snowflakes (i.e. amount of terms) and gradually pack on more snow over time adding more and more until we have a snow boulder. This process supports proper content retention rather than just crashing an avalanche of terms at them, like I did in the past. I use the same snowball process with my US History students’ memorization of the big events and presidents.

Depending on the strength of the students’ memories, we’re often able to move more quickly through this process before adding another set of five terms. When we get to the first 30 prefixes, I do the same pause and increase the level of difficulty. I don’t always include every quiz in the grade book because the management of points can get ridiculous.

Results

Every year, I am amazed at how much impact this has on students reading comprehension. Upper-level teachers come back to me year after year saying how they can always recognize the kids that come from my class because of their ability to independently implement this vocabulary skill later on. So whether students are breaking down vocabulary on the SAT or applying their knowledge of these chunks to more authentic learning, I see the results of this method, and because of that impact I want to make my student resources available to you.

Check out the link below for more detailed product information, and–of course–leave me a message with any questions about the resources or the process.

I have a couple questions. First, what grades do you see this being useful for? I teach fifth grade currently–is this adaptable, or should I look for something simpler for my kids? Second, more hypothetically, what’s the “next step”?–that is, after you teach this program in, say, 9th grade, what do you do with 10th grade vocab?

Hi Kambria! Those are great questions!
First, if a upper elementary teacher is as insightful as you and is looking for a strategic approach to vocabulary, i say “Go for it!” with your fifth graders. The upper elementary kids and teachers that I’ve worked with in the past would be well-suited for this. You may need to extend the quizzing timeline and build in more memory games, but I think it would absolutely work.
Second, the next step could be to make a bigger “snowball” by adding new terms the next year. As I mentioned, Kylene Beers has a great list of Latin and Greek chunks, but there are certainly others out there as well. I would take the next step by advancing the next grade-level with more discipline-specific terms. Unfortunately, I’m the only one in my district following this practice at this time, so we’re not quite there yet.
I’d love to hear where you take it. Please check back with me to share your progress and/or adaptations!

Hello Erica! I have followed Dave Stuart for a few years now, and his recent post on your vocabulary instruction came at the same time as I was thinking about it! I purchased your entire program and hope to find a way to get it to work for 6th graders….thank you! However, I do have one question at this point: do you have your students come up with example words for every single affix on your chart? For example, for a-, ad-, ac-, af-, ag-, an-, ar-, and as-….do your kids come up with words for each of those prefixes? I see the need to do that, but I can also see that taking way more than 15 minutes a day with my middle schoolers. What do you think? Thanks, Amy

You are spot on with your question! No, I don’t ask the kids to come up with a word for each affix. Goodness! It may sound silly—but you teach 6th grade so I’m sure you’re with me on this—I have to limit their examples because they would gladly do this for the whole class in an effort to wow one another.

Normally, after I introduce the term and explain my mentor example, I ask them to do a Think-Pair-Share and gather some examples. Then, I cold-call five kids to collect examples. This way everyone has a chance to share their awesome example, and I can pull everyone’s voice into the lesson. Then, I tell them to write whatever examples we didn’t share on their Student Study Pack.

Best of luck! I’d love to hear how it goes and what adaptations your make or lessons you learn!

Erica,
Love the post, and I went out and bought the Latin Word Chunks bundle, and so far, I’m really digging it. You said that you do a pre-test with your students before explicitly teaching the word chunks. Did you include that in the bundle? If not, would it be possible to get the pre-test from you?

Hi Chris,
Thanks so much! I’m so glad to hear that the Latin Word Chunk resources will be a support for you and your students!

To answer your question, the pre-test that I give my students is Quiz #22, the same assessment that I give them at the end. Using that matching quiz as the pre-test allows students to create their flashcards easily without flipping through the Student Study Pack.

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